This post is by associate Triage Practitioner, and guest blogger, Matthew Savage
It is said that humans have been making new years resolutions for over 4000 years, with the ancient Babylonians attributed as being the first, promising the gods they would pay their debts and return things they had borrowed in the forthcoming year (Pruitt, 2020). However, despite so much time to practice, it is estimated that only 25% of people actually stuck to their resolution in 2020 (Ibbetson, 2020), with other surveys suggesting as little as 8% of resolutions are stuck to on average (Pruitt, 2020). So, despite the high likelihood of failure, why do we humans like to make new years resolutions and why are they so difficult to stick to? How can you increase your chances of sticking to your resolution?
Why Do We Like to Make Resolutions?
Humans enjoy temporal landmarks as it offers a chance to “try again”, “wipe the slate clean” and recover from failure (Sherry, 2020). The most popular resolutions in the UK in 2021, like most years, involve “doing more exercise”, “losing weight”, “eating a healthy diet” and “saving more money” (Yougov, 2020). In addition to this, “seeing family more often” dramatically increased in 2020, a likely product of lockdown measures and the revaluation of the importance of family across the UK. Humans like to make commitments and form habits which can lead to meaningful change, personal growth and increased wellbeing as this can contribute to a sense of purpose. We define a habit as “an acquired behaviour pattern regularly followed until it becomes involuntary” (Oxford Dictionary, 2020) and this can only be achieved through repetition and reinforcement (Calakos, 2020). Habits involve the basal ganglia, an area deep inside our brain that controls motor actions and compulsive behaviours. Habits lead to the firing of neurons at the beginning of a routine, which then remain quiet whilst the routine is complete, and then fire again at the end of the routine (Martiros, Burgess and Graybiel, 2018). These pathways can be formed both actively, consciously and mindfully (Malabou, 2008; Bergson, 1911) or passively and unconsciously (Yin and Knowlton, 2006). Our resolutions are always active and mindful and if we can actively stick to a new habit for 18-25 days, there is a high chance the basal ganglia which create reward pathways linked to the habit, and, voilà, you may just achieve your resolution (Graff, 2021)! However, habits are complicated things and a whole heap of barriers stand in the way of simple habit formation.
Barriers to Achieving Resolutions
Unlike the Babylonians and Romans, our resolutions have mostly moved away from a focus on moral failure or reparations to the gods and have become more secular, individual and self-improvement focused (Pruitt, 2020). These make our goals more difficult to stick to for a number of reasons:
- Lack of accountability – Without God to hold us accountable, it is up to our own willpower, motivation and determination to stick to our resolution. This can be immensely difficult as it is easy for our bodies to become depleted of resources, for our brains to become cognitively fatigued and for our motivation to take a similar trajectory (Hoffman, 2015). This leads to an eventual decision-making threshold which can easily lead to giving up.
- Non-specific or overly ambitious goals – Often, goals can be set that are not well defined, are very broad or are very ambitious and difficult to achieve without serious sacrifice.
- Lack of self-control – Self control always involves active, conscious thought and inhibition and, because of this, can hamper the achievement of our goals. Self-control is a skill that must be practiced and is difficult to master. Our self-control can be impacted by conscious inhibitors of goal achievement include worry, distraction and dwelling (Muraven, 2012).
Tips to Help you Achieve your Resolutions this Year
Whilst there are many barriers, there are also many scientifically proven ways of achieving set resolutions. These include:
- Design an action plan – Visualize the process, predict the challenges and plan the steps you will take to avoid distraction and achieve your goal. Planning can help to reduce the chances of temptation in the moment. For example, picking what you might eat in a restaurant before arriving may be important when trying to stick to healthy eating or weight loss goals.
- Maintain motivation through chunking goals – Instead of creating one, huge, often unattainable goal, try setting instrumental goals. These are subordinate goals to your primary target and provide smaller, more achievable chunks, preferably with a reward at the end of each. When these are achieved, it boosts motivation towards the bigger goal. Little wins as they say!
- Positive reinforcement – We can trigger reinforcement through external rewards, which will lead to an internal release of dopamine, one of our “feel good” neurochemicals. If we can associate our resolution with a reward, our brains and basal ganglia can stamp the memory of our habit with positive emotion and reward value (Trafton, 2012), making it more likely we will stick to it.
- Set SMART resolutions – As mentioned, chunking and planning is important as one of the main reasons people fail to follow their resolutions is due to a lack of specificity. Using the SMART method, we can help to break up our goals further. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based.
- Make yourself accountable – When we are accountable, we are more likely to achieve our goals. Why not find a friend who wants to make the same resolution as you and keep each other in check with visits, phone calls, shopping trips and motivational rewards together.
A Final Note
Lower stress levels are vitally important for achieving the goals we set, particularly our resolutions. Many negative habits are formed due to stress, such as smoking, overeating and under exercising and so reducing our stress levels is often one of the most important factors we must understand if we are to achieve our new year’s resolutions. Breaking these negative habits can be achieved by avoiding associated cues, such as leaving snacks nearby when trying to eat healthily, or by highlighting unpleasant things associated with the experience, such as the taste of smoke whilst smoking (Brewer, 2019). Engaging in meditation, breathing exercises, taking a creative class, or seeking psychological support are all further options when trying to reduce stress. Though some of these ideas may form one or more of your resolutions already!
About Matt Savage
Matthew Savage is an associate Triage Practitioner, has an MSc in Psychology, is a qualified personal trainer, and has worked within the field of cognitive rehabilitation for 5 years. He is an FA qualified football coach, with a keen interest in moral behaviour and wellbeing within team sports.
References
Gaines, J. (2021). How Are Habits Formed? The Psychology of Behavioral Change. Available online at: https://positivepsychology.com/how-habits-are-formed/
Graff F. (2021). The Science Behind Habits and New Year’s Resolutions. Available online at: https://www.pbsnc.org/blogs/science/starting-new-habits/
Hoffman, B. (2015). Why Is It So Darn Hard To Keep New Years Resolutions? Available online at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/motivate/201512/why-is-it-so-darn-hard-keep-new-year-s-resolutions